Servire Diis
by GunMetalX
Summary: The new world made by Bhunivelze is a dream for the countless of people saved by the Savior. For others, it is the start of a never-ending nightmare. No pairings.


_**Author's note:**_

_Hello everyone, first time writing for the FF archives, especially for Lightning Returns. As you can tell, the game has not been released in the states and if this fic causes any potential spoilers (which I doubt because I haven't read anything regarding LRFFXIII) then I apologize. However, to those that does know the end, please don't tell me until Feb 11. I'll appreciate no spoiler reviews, if I got my facts wrong, well, I didn't know. Just please, no spoilers. A writer like me wants good crit, that is all._

_On a lighter note, enjoy :D reviews are always welcomed and appreciated/encouraged._

The final thirteen days came to a close as Nova Chrysalia was overrun by chaos. Bhunivelze created a new world for those who chose to believe in him, and tasked Lightning with obtaining the souls of hundreds of people and taking them there. After thirteen days of struggle, here she was, standing right on it. The warm sun came down on her, slowly warming her black suit and the metallic spinal cord on her arms. A soft breeze swayed her bangs and cape while tickling her skin. The scent of grass filled her as she took a long breath and sighed. The new world looked a lot like the Wildlands and Gran Pulse. There were huge green grass planes with several hills, along with trees that looked like those of Gran Pulse. It had much more rocks so it wasn't quite a forest, but it wasn't barren plains either.

Lightning glanced at the people wandering the area. They were either in awe, exploring, or simply rejoicing because Bhunivelze had mercy upon them, and brought them to this world that was far from the chaos decaying land. Lightning was witnessed from afar. Nobody paid her much attention, nor did they seem to care that the Savior was the one who made it possible to be where they are now. However, that didn't bother Lightning in the least. In fact, her gaze was fixed upon a group of people that were hugging each other in total bliss. She felt her brows furrow, they were all so...happy. They all seemed glad to have survived the end the world, but two in particular drew her attention. They seemed to be a family, maybe sisters; a girl no older than seventeen was hugging another girl of about fifteen. They were both crying and embracing each other.

Lightning's fist clenched tightly, making her leather glove squeak, a long forgotten emotion seeped into her veins as she saw the two rejoice.

No, it wasn't one sole emotion, rather a combination of many. Envy, jealousy, anger, remorse, nostalgia and sadness hit her like an Adamantoise over her head. She felt an emotional storm in the depths of her heart as she saw those girls. She didn't realize that her hand was shaking and that her breath had quickened. A wave of accumulated emotions from those thirteen days had taken over her very being along with a series of non-stop memories. Yes, she was humanity's Savior, rescuing hundreds, if not thousands of people, but she was not able to do this alone.

A certain silver headed boy filled her mind and abruptly she took off. She needed to get away from those people, the two in particular. Their joy was sickening and made her clench her teeth in fury. Her mind was soon clouded with memories, especially with the first person that welcomed her from crystal stasis. Hope stayed with her all those days; made sure she got back from all her missions safe and sound. He was always talking to her on her wireless device, and never once did he leave her side. He was always concerned about her fighting alone, especially at night with all those chaos-induced monsters that prowled in the darkness. That was not true; she didn't always fight alone. Fang's face slowly came into view. Her pace broke into a jog. The dark haired huntress was another who welcomed her from her sleep and accompanied her during her missions in the Dead Dunes. Fighting back-to-back, never giving their opponent a chance to jump back. She would always remember her spunk, her smart-ass sarcastic remarks, how she'd taunt her enemies before delivering the final blow. There were times that things had gotten out of hand but she'd always tell Lightning, "It could have been worse," along with a cocky grin and a shrug as she put her lance back in place. Things did get worse and she was a firsthand witness of it. Fang wouldn't be able to keep her word to Vanille and return to her after all.

Vanille.

The girl with the most upbeat, odd, and optimistic personality would actually take part of the worshippers of Bhunivelze in Luxerion. She'd never believe Vanille to be that faithful to the Gods, even with that crazed group that was after the Savior and those who believed in her. She was always risking too much in aiding Lightning with valuable information for being in enemy territory. She was always in danger of being eliminated by the other radical groups for believing in her. She was always on the risk that Noel, the shadow hunter, would come for her when Lightning was not in Luxerion to protect her. For once, Lightning hated to be right.

Noel.

A long time ago she believed that Etro had saved him in order to help her stand against Caius and his plot of killing the Goddess. However, he seemed to have completely lost it with Serah's passing.

Serah.

She felt a cold chill down her spine and her stomach churned instantly at the memory of her name. Suddenly, she halted when she saw a Chocobo run across her line of vision, temporarily distracting her as she remembered a man with a baby chick hiding in his Afro.

Sahz and Dajh. That crazy old man stuck to her from the very start in the train ride to Hanging Edge a millennia ago. Lightning remembered all those quirky moments with him. How she nearly ditched him with her anti-gravity device if he hadn't pulled her down. She eventually met him again in the forest and with Dajh and the baby Chocobo inside of that broken down ship. Even though he wasn't all that happy to see Lightning at first, he always gave her good sound advice. Almost like a father would to a daughter. In the chaos of the final days, Lightning and Hope lost track of him. Neither knew where he went; only that chaos flooded the entire forest. She tried looking for them but Hope said it was futile. Lightning may have had divine powers, but that didn't make her immune to chaos. The only person that seemed to channel chaos of had been Snow.

She heard herself growl.

That no good, useless oaf.

He was no better than Noel. He might have saved hundreds of people five hundred years ago, but he channeled all his sorrow and despair towards Lightning.

She quickly drew the blade from her back as she felt her ears burn with fury.

She didn't want to do any of this. She didn't volunteer for being the Goddess' bodyguard. It wasn't her fault that Etro was stupid enough to give the Heart of Chaos to Caius. She lunged toward the closest rock formation and attacked it, cracking it in one blow and then raised her sword above her head. She didn't ask to become the Savior.

She was forced to by Bhunivelze. _He_ pulled her from crystal stasis.

The stone cracked in half as she struck. She raised it again and prepared to swing her sword to completely obliterate it. He had given her the task to save his believers in an exchange for a chance to save Serah. A CHANCE! She felt magic channel into her arms as she delivered the electrically charged final blow, decimating the stone to rubble. She held her sword at the ground. Her arms felt like lead as she shook uncontrollably.

Serah….

It was that stormy day when she and her sister went to visit her bedridden mother in the hospital. Her mother asked Serah to step out to allow her and E'clair to talk. Her mother lay on her bed, the sight alone made E'clair's eyes burn. Her hair was unkempt, her skin was pale, dark circles under her weary eyes, and her breathing was uneven and erratic. Her mother was no longer that beautiful woman who used to take her and Serah to the park on the weekends. She would no longer be able make those strawberry pies she and Serah would quarrel about on those lazy summer days. She would no longer be able to feel her warm hugs late at night while sitting next her and gently stroking her hair and have her sing her nightmares away. Lulling her into a deep, peaceful sleep. E'clair knew that things would never be the same, as much as she hated the thought, it was always there, lurking in the back of her head. It was cruel reality that her mother was not going to be with her anymore. The thought that she would leave her and Serah to their own devices made her pulse quicken as she tried not to panic. She was not at home, here she was in a hospital, on her possible death bed, holding her eldest daughter's hand as E'clair futilely tried to hold back tears as she felt them roll down her cheeks.

"E'clair…" Her mother weakly said with a small smile as she stroked her thumb over her hand. "Mom, why did you send Serah away-" she said before being interrupted by her mother's hand cupping her cheek.

"I am not going to pass the night, E'clair, I can feel it."

E'clair froze, her breath halted as Lightning flashed in the room.

"I need you to do me a promise," she said with a cough.

E'clair felt a rush of panic though her. "Mom what are talking about, you were able to get through Dad's death and-"

"Listen to me," she said firmly and E'clair pursed her lips tightly and nodded.

"It-It's going to be the two of you now, and you're going to have new, m-more important responsibilities. Promise me that you'll take care of Serah and protect her. You will only have support in each other now. I have faith in you, E'clair. Please promise me you'll do t-that... promise…" She trailed off. E'clair let out a choked sob, took a deep breath and swallowed thickly before replying.

"I will. I'll take care of her to the end, you-you have my word, mom..."

Her mother's eyes filled with a glint she hadn't seen in months as she smiled.

"Thank you, E'clair..." She said stroking her cheek. "Your father and I used to spoil you so much as a child. He would be proud of you if he were here to hear you say this. He would expect no less from our little princess"

Her hand suddenly went limp and fell from her cheek to land on the bed beside her.

Lightning was breathing heavily as she heard some startled murmurs approaching. However, they didn't dare get too close as they saw the area around her. Not only did she obliterate the rock but burned the grass around it and singed several trees. Lightning didn't glance at them. She didn't care if people saw her little temper tantrum; she was too deep in her painful memories to give a damn about them. She felt her knees go weak as they hit the ground. Her eyes burned furiously as she looked at her sword.

She was not able to keep her promise to her mother. She was not able to see Serah in her last moments of life. Memories clouded her mind, her sister's birthdays, helping her to bed during those first years after their mother's passing, tending her when she got a fever or even a cold, attending to her high school graduation. All the things she did just for her. She joined the Guardian Corps because it was a guaranteed, stable flow of money. She remembered all those times Serah scolded her for being injured on the job and tended to her cuts and bruises as she lectured for hours on end. She would force Lightning to stay still and not complain as she disinfected her wounds. As much as she hated her little sister's lectures, she was also very happy to have Serah worry about her, even if the Guardian Corps was consuming their time together. But everything changed when Serah became a Pulse L'cie, and the chain of events that would unravel to this very moment.

Lightning squeezed the grip on her sword as she threw her head back and screamed as loud as she could. The people around her even took several steps back at her agonized scream. The murmurs stopped. Her breaths were irregular and shaky, her very being trembling as tears slid down her face, her gaze fixed at the sky.

She failed to protect Serah; her parents would be disappointed in their eldest daughter for not being strong enough to defeat Caius. She dragged her little sister into her problems, sending her to do an impossible task that was eating away her life, little by little.

She failed to protect Hope even when she promised him that day, after he had given up on operation Nora. He was gone. She had not been able to protect him like she said she would. She had broken her promise with him, just like she did with her mother that cold stormy day.

Everyone alongside her in these last days was gone.

Hope gave his life for a greater good just like Fang and Vanille did. She didn't want to think what had happened to Sahz and Dajh, and how Snow only threw his life down because he no longer had a motive. She couldn't judge Snow for hating her. At least he did something productive helping people; what did she do? Turn herself into a Crystal because she could not stand the sorrow within her? The moment she became an L'cie she felt she could write her own destiny. Her own fate, and that no Fal'Cie could change that, nobody would. However, things seemed quite the contrary. It seems that fate was already written out and all Lightning did was play her role. She never changed anything. She never protected anyone. The title of Savior was nothing more than a cruel, mocking joke of the Gods themselves.

She fixed her sights on the burned grass around her.

"Lightning, it- flashes bright and fades away…" she said in her cracked voice. "It-it can't protect….it only destroys," she said with a small sob. In the back of her mind she could hear Lumina's childish giggle.

"There are no souls for you to save here…just dead people," she said with a mischievous grin in the dark night of Luxerion. She lost grip of her sword as the stream of tears continued to fall. Part of her wished that her mother were there to wipe the tears like all those years ago, but a cold breeze was a cruel reminder that she was alone. Nobody was here with her, not even in death. There would be no warm hug from Serah to tell her that everything would be alright, no sarcastic comments from Fang for being in a mess of tears. Vanille would be furious at her for making fun of someone in Lightning's condition. Sahz wouldn't know what to do and Snow would be too scared to get close to her, fearing a good punch in the jaw. Hope would also hug her and let her know that everything is all right, nothing more than a terrible nightmare.

What a wonderful lie.

She raised her fists and slammed them on the ground repeatedly. She didn't know how long she was doing it for, but she felt her shoulders weaken and her hands become sore.

She had been the savior to hundreds of people during the final days. Fought countless enemies, even defeating Caius, but she had not been able to save those that really mattered to her. She had not been able to save Serah's soul. It would be forever lost in the sea of chaos, for eternity.

The battle with Caius, was a flurry of blades and armor. At the end, Lightning pushed him against the wall, causing him to lose his balance, giving her the opportunity to deliver the final blow. He gasped loudly as he looked at the sword penetrating his chest and trailed all the way to her ice blue eyes with shock but suddenly, he started to laugh as blood spilled from his lips. Lightning frowned and was about to remove her blade when he grabbed it and looked to her with a crooked smile.

"D-D-Do you think the Gods will grant the wish you so desire? Is this why you fight, L-L-Lightning? A promise of a God is nothing but a fools promise…" He coughed blood onto her face as he chuckled.

"Yo-You are nothing more than a slave to them. The G-Gods care of nothing but themselves…." He said before his hand fell and his body slumped as his head rolled to the side.

Her tears slowed to halt, feeling nothing but a void inside. Initially she was unable to feel emotions when she awoke but this was different. It felt as if everything was dead within her. She was in a new world full of life that Nova Chrysalia lacked… and she never felt as forsaken as she did now. Lightning Farron was the Savior of the human race from now and centuries to come but was nothing more than a slave to the Gods.

_BTW Servire Diis means Slave of the Gods in Latin, courtesy of Google translate._


End file.
